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Tuesday, 7 July 2015

From the War Rooms to Westminster

byEloise Peabody-Rolf

29th June to the 3rd July was
‘Enrichment Week’ at PGS. For Year 12, the week included Sports Day, and UCAS Day focusing our minds on our
university applications and particularly our personal statements. Then on
Thursday we had Social Apprentice Day which enabled us to perform voluntary
work and give back to the community. The final day of the week, we had a trip
carousel, I went on the Politics trip to London.

After travelling up on the coach to London we first
visited the Churchill War Rooms in the Imperial War Museum. We were given time to explore the area, which
was an excellent opportunity to find out more about Churchill himself, and also
the situation in which Britain was placed in during the Second World war, and
the reasons for Churchill’s decisions. He was certainly a determined man, and
it surprised me the hours he was prepared to work - 18 hours some days, and his
expectation of his co-workers to do similar.

On leaving the War Rooms, we had a short walk to the
Supreme Court. This is the final court
of appeal in the UK for civil cases, and for criminal cases from England, Wales
and Northern Ireland. It hears cases of
the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole
population. It was interesting to visit the court rooms, and learn more about their
processes.

A short lunch break, and then the final stop of the day
was to Parliament. Politics students
were lucky enough to be able to visit and have a tour around Parliament, for
me, it was amazing to see first-hand all we had been learning about in our
lessons for the past year, and it was inspiring to know that we have stood
where decisions which change our lives have been made.

For me the visit to Westminster was particularly
pertinent as, following the election, I had invited the newly elected MP for
Fareham, Suella Fernandes , to meet the volunteers at the Hampshire Community
Court which is operating in her constituency.
As a barrister herself Suella was keen to observe the youth justice
initiative in action, and visited the team on 19th June. I’m pleased to say she was impressed with
what she saw and is keen to return to observe further cases.

As her host, I took the opportunity to ask Suella a few
questions about how, six weeks in, she is finding life as an MP. She kindly gave me her permission to share
her first impressions.

Suella Fernanded, MP for Fareham

What is it like in
the House?

When you arrive it
is amazing, I’m not a historical person but when you’re in there the
architecture is overwhelming. When you are there you can understand why it has
been called the ‘Mother of Parliaments’.

What was it like
making your maiden speech?

From about 15 or
16, I dreamed of making a maiden speech, so when it finally happened it was a
dream come true and, although I was nervous because of the other MPs in the
House, I was very excited and received a lot of warm support from across all
the parties.

You mentioned that
you have had this dream from about 15 or 16. Did this all begin when you used
to help your parents? Were your parents an inspiration to you?

Yes my parents were
an inspiration. You spend your time on a Friday night volunteering at hearings
and, although I never had that experience, I spent my Friday night campaigning
with my parents, and in a way it was a hobby. Not only did I find it
interesting, because it is all based on the society you live in, but also about
your rights and the identity as well as your country. It is also a sociable
event, you campaign with the same people and you have common interests and I’ve
made lifelong friends from this, you also gain leadership and public skills.
The role also is of public service but it allows you to help relate to people.

What will your
priorities be in Parliament?

My priory is
education, I have started a free school and I believe that school is there to
realise your potential and I want to make it equal, and not have it based on
how much you earn or which postcode you come in, and I believe the difference
and inequality have become
exacerbated in the education system.

It’s been 6 weeks,
from the 7th May, since you were elected - is there anything which
is surprising or you didn’t expect since taking your seat?

The main thing I
wasn’t expecting was that the Palace of Westminster is like a maze, there are
corridors and staircases everywhere. I
actually found a secret doorway and, although I was intrigued at first, I have
to admit I got nervous! The other aspect
which I found surprising was the friendliness of the people working there.

Was this just from your party or
cross-party, as I have heard that the House can be a hostile place?

The friendliness
and warmth came from everyone and there are a lot of cross-party friendships, although
you are in different parties it’s because you have different perspectives on
the same overall views. For example I’ve had a chat with Alex Salmond and Keith Vaz.

Who would you say
your inspirations are in terms of politicians?

That’s a hard
question, firstly I would say Margaret Thatcher, not just when she was the Iron
Lady but as an MP, this is because, not only was she a woman, she had been a
barrister like myself and she broke through a glass ceiling. Thatcher also had
a family and gained the respect of her peers, whilst taking the role of an MP. Another inspiration
is Winston Churchill for his courage and the respect he gained. Also figures
such as Obama and Mandela, and there are many more.

I would loved to have talked for longer, however Suella
had other commitments. I greatly
appreciated the interest she expressed in the Community Court’s activities,
also the first impressions she kindly shared with me of her exciting new role.

Portsmouth Point blog article 06/07/15

From the 29th June to the 3rd July,
we had enrichment week. As many of you probably know Sixth Form were also
involved in this and starting with Monday being mufti day and normal lessons
continued. Tuesday began the rest of the week of no lessons, with Sports day in
the afternoon, which was luckily a beautiful sunny day, and Wednesday was UCAS
day, where we had a talk from someone from Southampton University and allowing
us time to work on our personal statements. Finally on Thursday we had Social
Apprentice day allowing us to work in and give back to the community. The final
day of the week, we had a trip carousel, I went on the Politics trip.

After travelling up on the coach to London we first
visited the Churchill War Rooms in the Imperial War Rooms, and we were given
time to explore the area. This was very interesting and excellent opportunity
to not only find out more about Churchill himself but the situation in which
Britain was placed in and the reasons for Churchill’s choices. One thing which
was surprised me was how determined he was and the hours he was prepared to
work, 18 hours some days, and the expectation of his co-workers to do the same.

Continuing on with the day we had a short walk to the
Supreme Court, and is the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases, and
for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It hears cases of
the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole
population.

A short lunch break, and then the final stop of the day
was to Parliament. Politics students were lucky enough to be able to visit and
have a tour around Parliament, for me, it was amazing to see everything which
we had been learning about for the past year, and it was inspiring to know that
we have stood where decisions which change our lives have been made.

It also related to a recent visit we had to Community
Court, newly elected MP, Suella Fernandes attend Community Court and I was able
to ask her a few questions about what it is like to be an MP.

What is it like in
the house?

When you arrive it
is amazing, I’m not a historical person but when you’re in there the
architecture is overwhelming. When you are there you can understand why it has
been called the ‘Mother of Parliaments’.

What was it like
making your maiden speech?

From about 15 or
16, I dreamed of making a maiden speech, so when it finally happened it was a
dream come true and, although I was nervous because of the audience, she was
very excited and received a lot of warm support across all the parties.

So you mentioned
that you have had this dream from about 15 or 16, and did this all begin when
you used to help your parents? Were your parents an inspiration to you?

Yes my parents were
an inspiration, you spend your time on a Friday night volunteering at hearings
and although I never had that experience I spent my Friday night campaigning
with my parents, and in a way it was a hobby. Not only did I find it
interesting, because it is all based on the society you live in, but also about
your rights and the identity as well as your country. It is also a sociable
event, you campaign with the same people and you have common interests and I’ve
made lifelong friends from this, you also gain leadership and public skills.
The role also is of public service but it allows you to help relate to people.

What will your
priorities be in Parliament?

My priory is
education, I have started a free school and I believe that school is there to
realise your potential and I want to make it equal, and not have it based on
how much you earn or which postcode you come in, and I believe the difference
and inequality have become
exacerbated in the education system.

It’s been 6 weeks,
from the 7th May, since you were elected - is there anything which
is surprising or you didn’t expect since taking your seat?

The main thing I
wasn’t expecting was that the Palace of Westminster is like a maze, there are
corridors and staircases everywhere. I
actually found a secret doorway and, although I was intrigued at first, I have
to admit I got nervous! The other aspect which I found surprising was the
friendliness of the people working there.

Was this just from your party or
cross-party, as I have heard that the House is a very hostile place?

The friendliness
and warmth came from everyone and there are a lot of cross-party friendships, although
you are in different parties it’s because you have different perspectives on
the same overall views. For example I’ve had a chat with Alex Salmon and Keith Vaz.

Who would you say
your inspirations are in terms of politicians?

That’s a hard
question, firstly I would say Margaret Thatcher, not just when she was the Iron
Lady but as an MP, this is because, not only was she a woman, she had been a
barrister like myself and she broke through a glass ceiling. Thatcher also had
a family and gained the respect of her peers, whilst taking the role of an MP.

Another inspiration
is Winston Churchill for his courage and the respect he gained.

For me this was of a great interest as Mark Walsh was
able to research the Community Court Project and travel to America, thanks to
the award of a Winston Churchill Fellowship Trust.